Sebastiaan Gorissen Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Communications

Bio

Ph.D. in Communication, University of Utah (2022)
M.A. in Communication, University of New Mexico (2017)
M.A. in Film Studies, University of Amsterdam (2014)
B.A. in Media & Culture, University of Amsterdam (2013)

Courses I Teach

DMC 219 Digital Marketing
BU 215 Marketing

Areas of Expertise

Critical/Cultural Studies
Strategic Communication and (Digital) Marketing
Internet Studies

I approach pedagogy in ways that instill life-long learning, spark curiosity, and demand critical reflection. Anchoring course materials in students’ communities and lived experiences, I build community-based courses to foster a learning environment that inspires critical introspection and open-minded debate, in which my students and I are encouraged to learn by confronting a wide range of challenging and controversial problems, presumptions, and perspectives. As an instructor with an international perspective, I intimately understand the ways in which the implicit and explicit norms, references, and shorthand pervading the culture of American academia construct an ivory tower whose perceived impenetrability is relentlessly intimidating. Consequently, I am committed to continuously implement small-yet-impactful curriculum changes that make my classrooms more welcoming to all, including more inclusive course readings and greater flexibility in assignment formats. As a first-generation student, I understand the challenges of navigating higher education, driving my desire to demystify college education for my students.

Current Research

My drive toward pedagogical and curricular innovation is firmly rooted in my scholarship. Located at the intersections of critical/cultural media studies, strategic communication, and internet studies, my research questions long-standing assumptions within communication regarding when and how users are restricted in accessing digital media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Parler, or OnlyFans. Despite their reputation for neutrality and stability, the administrators moderating digital media platforms continuously make biased choices about who can and cannot access their proprietary websites and services. Targeting those users not aligned with their corporate values, digital media platforms’ moderation choices exclude some of the most vulnerable groups in society, including racial and sexual minorities, sex workers, and social justice activists. Scholarship has long focused on corporations’ justifications for such moderation. My work, however, is mostly concerned with those communities of users eliminated from digital media sites based on how their created content and social interactions are categorized. My primary research program focuses on “deplatforming,” the process by which an individual’s account on a digital media platform is suspended, disallowing their access to the platform’s user base and services. I study the migratory movements of deplatformed users across websites and services to answer key questions about the social, financial, and political impact of new media.